Indian Head Quarter Eagles

The Indian Head Quarter Eagles were minted from 1907 to 1933. During this time President Theodore Roosevelt was in office due to the assassination of McKinley and he found the United States coinage to be unattractive and not representing our country very well so he wanted a reform on all United States coinage. The Mint Engraver at the time was Charles Barber who Roosevelt believed to be mediocre in the profession so in order to achieve new beautiful designs he replaced his job with world renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Saint-Gaudens was commissioned to create a new design for the gold eagle and double eagle coins. Roosevelt chose Bela Lyon Pratt an accomplished sculptor and medal maker who was a student of Saint-Gaudens, to redesign the gold half eagle and quarter eagle when Saint Gaudens passed away from cancer in 1907. Roosevelt thought that by making these coins incuse it would give them a new look unlike any of the coins previously minted.

The incuse design was a new innovation that was used on the Indian Head Quarter Eagle. People in the banking industry and those into numismatics disapproved of the incuse design on the Indian Head Quarter Eagle. They believed that the incuse design would not allow for them to be easily stacked, that dirt would get into the incused features, and that one could easily create a counterfeit. People from the public were indifferent and the coin remained in production and in circulation until the start of the Great Depression in 1929.

The gold Indian Head Quarter Eagle set is one of the most affordable gold sets available for purchase. You can even obtain the uncirculated 1911D with a low mintage of 55,680. The highest minted coin within the series is the 1913, having 722,000 minted coins and the second lowest is the 1914 with a total of 240,000 minted.

The $2.50 Indian Head has a composition of 90% gold and 10% copper, consisting of 3.762 grams of gold or .1209 troy ounces. It weighs 4.18 grams, is 18 millimeters in diameter and has a reeded edge.

On the obverse side of the coin is an Indian Head wearing a headdress and the depiction came from a real Indian model. The word ‘Liberty’ is inscribed above the Indian Head along with 13 stars arching around him, which stood for the original 13 colonies. On the reverse side is an image of bald eagle holding arrows with an olive branch wrapped around them. Also on the reverse side is the motto “In God We Trust,” as well as “E Pluribus Unum” and United States of America.”

These coins are popular amongst investors and collectors because of their beauty. They are considered one of the most beautiful gold coins ever minted and the lower graded coins can be purchased for a little above the spot price of gold.

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